Digital Thoughts and Opinions

ZMOT – Zero Moment of Truth

I love the ZMOT concept (or Zero Moment of Truth) Essentially this concept (developed by Google and some other smart people) puports that we need to add a new layer in the existing purchase life cycle. Previously, It was stated that people have stimulus, and then act upon this. This would be called FMOT or First Moment of Truth. This would then influence their purchase decision based on their experience with the brand.

However with the advent of the interwebs, we now need to add a new layer called ZMOT or Zero Moment of Truth. Essentially this is the moment that now occurs after the initial Stimulus whereby people are now looking to the web to get more info before making their purchase. This is things like Google Search, product reviews, social media reviews, crowd sourcing info etc that people are turning to before the First Moment and after stimulus.

Essentially this is highlighting the importance of the internet in the user product decision making process and how a persons influence can be changed. See below how Google applied ZMOT to Smartphone purchase decision making.

This concept can be applied to any product and segment and used to defectively highlight the importance of the web as tool for product purchasing. companies and brands – take note!